CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET (2023)

Waiting an unholy amount of time for a sequel seems to be the done thing nowadays. But while everyone else was busy waiting for long-overdue follow-ups to the likes of Top Gun and Avatar, I have been patiently sitting round with one thought brewing in my mind: what ever happened to Rocky and Ginger after they left Tweedy’s farm in Chicken Run (2000)? Aardman, having apparently heard my cries, have now delivered – after an eye-opening hiatus of twenty-three years – the answer to that burning question.

Following their audacious escape from Mr and Mrs Tweedy’s farm, the chickens are now living on a peaceful island and Ginger and Rocky are now parents to a chick named Molly. But, of course, the status quo is disrupted when the arrival of a new threat sees the chickens having to do the very opposite of their break-out in the first film: this time they need to break-in.

It’s with a handsome degree of delight that I announce that this is a precious picture, the sort that is seldom made these days. A huge chunk of the credit no doubt belongs to the delicate dedication and consummate care of the animators at Aardman, the charming screenplay and the quality of the voice acting. Aardman’s aptitude for creating worlds bustling with wit (both the visual and oratory kind) and enchanting tangibility is not lost here. Alas, the biggest drawback lies not in the story, the typically offbeat humour or even in the animation (which, as I’ve said here and elsewhere is in true Aardman style, superb); instead it is the lamentable absence of both Julia Sawalha and Mel Gibson from the credits. With them gone, there’s an unavoidable dent in the armour of what is otherwise a very entertaining and charming family film.